Falcon Steakhouse, Wotton bans England’s Qatar World Cup matches

A decision has been made not to show any of the England matches at the Falcon Steakhouse, Wotton-under-Edge. 

The prestigious tournament – which takes place every four years – starts on Sunday, with England’s first game taking place on Monday. 

“First thing’s first, I love England, and I love a good World Cup,” said Andy Starling, landlord of the Falcon. 

“I will be watching every minute of the games and cheering us on.

“But we have made the decision not to show any of the games at the steakhouse.

“I don’t feel it’s good to profit off the back of the sham of how Qatar disgracefully won the hosting of the tournament.

“We have customers and ex staff from the LGBTQ+ community and I would feel bad using the games to make a few quid with so many human rights issues being swept under the rug.

“I’ll be watching the games and supporting my country at home with my family, but I won’t be using the tournement to make money.

“With the World Cup taking place in a country where homosexuality is illegal, flogging is an acceptable form of punishment, and 6,500 workers are said to have died while building the stadiums, I feel it’s wrong for Qatar to host.

“The way these hosts were chosen to showcase the best sporting event in the world is something I personally do not agree with.

“We’ve always shown World Cups and Euros in the past, but this is one we’ll give a miss.

“The pub will be open, serving our locally reared beef as usual, and the lounge bar will be serving our fantastic range of ales, wines, cocktails and gins.

“We totally respect other pub’s decisions to show the games as it’s very hard at the moment staying afloat. 

“There are many places locally that show sports a lot better than we do.

“I understand that this might be a love-it or hate-it post, but our customers have been asking if we’re going to have the games on.

“And we just wanted to let you know that The Falcon will be a World Cup free zone.”